Been watching mainly the usual Christmas movie fare. Of course, standouts continue to be A Christmas Carol (1951) starring Alistair Sim, A Christmas Story (1983), The Bishop's Wife (1947), It's a Wonderful Life (1946), and Miracle on 34th Street (1947). Also watched and enjoyed Christmas in Connecticut (1945), Rudolph, the Red-Nosed Reindeer (1964), and the first two Home Alone films. Also plan on trying to work in White Christmas, Christmas Vacation and perhaps a few others.

Did catch a couple I'd never watched before. First was the rather disappointing Elf (2003) which in its favour did feature entertaining performances by Bob Newhart as Papa Elf and Ed Asner as Santa Claus but Will Ferrell just plain annoys the hell out of me even in this which he does seem a tad toned down. Also watched The Santa Suit, a TV Movie actually starring Kevin Sorbo which surprisingly wasn't too bad at all. Pretty similar to a lot of other fluff they play this time of year but I'd say a tad better than most of it.

Also recently watched the documentary The History of WWE: 50 Years of Sports Entertainment on Blu-Ray. This was an excellent documentary that featured a lot of talk about what was going on with the McMahons behind the scenes as WWE grew and rose from a small company and regional wrestling promotion to the corporate WWE entity it is today. Only negative here is we don't get near enough of the opposing point of view from those promoters/territory workers WWE essentially put out of work. History is written by the victors and WWE is the clear victor of the wrestling wars. Would have been nice to see some attention given to how the expansion of WWE affected those in the AWA, NWA, and elsewhere. Otherwise, this is a really well-done look at the growth of WWE from the viewpoint of the McMahons.

Blockbuster adaptation of the young-adult novel about a dystopian future society whose youths are forced to battle to the death once per year. My 11 year old watched this on Netflix last week and has been insisting since then that I "HAVE" to see it. I was impressed, it's well acted and action packed. Now I want to see the second one.

Don't ask me why but I actually got involved in this made-for-Lifetime TV melodrama starring Teri Polo ("Meet the Parents") as a high powered female exec who gets kidnapped shortly after suffering a personal tragedy. After some time in captivity she begins to suspect the two events are related.

The flick is well acted and has a decent amount of suspense for most of its run time, till a twist ending straight out of "Scooby Doo" totally ruins it.

DC Cab - I don't know if this was a weak print or if it's my new DVD player that I found in the trash but this was kind of dark looking for some reason. It doesn't matter though, it's still a great movie. Gary Busey, Mr T, Bill Maher (the only decent thing he ever did), and co. get all hyped up when Adam Baldwin (? ) comes up and they all get into the spirit of the company. I saw this when it came out and it was much more vivid to me as a kid: the scene where they're in the cab on the train tracks, Gary Busey saying he won't work on Elvis's birthday, The flamethrower, I thought this stuff was genius when I was 9 but it didn't pack quite the same punch. I'd like to see it on the big screen again still 5/5 "It's really great for me to be here..."

TV Movie 'Variety' Show of some sorts, celebrating disco music in a relaxed and 'just having fun' manner. This was filmed at some huge Playboy mansion, and the first half is filled with countless Playmates on roller skates grinning and dancing. In between we get a few celebrities (James Caan, Bill Cosby) mingling in the crowd while the host tries to score with Dorothy Stratten who ignores him. The second half takes place inside the mansion and they continue to boogie in sleepwear. At the end there's a live performance by The Village People performing "Ready for the 80's" (this was broadcast in November 1979).Interesting time capsule, but I'm sure the real Playboy parties had sex and drugs 5/5

Logan's Run (1977) - no not the one with Michael York and Jenny Agutter, this was the pilot for the TV series, starring Gregory Harrison and Heather Menzies. The first ten minutes or so takes place in the city of domes, with lots of footage from the theatrical movie. Then Logan and Jessica escape into the outside world and first meet a group of people living in a bomb shelter because nasty people on the surface are threatening them. So of course Logan takes care of that problem for them, and then our duo moves on to another city that's populated entirely by robots who want to serve them and won't let them leave. This was fun, pretty cheesy as you might expect from a sci-fi TV drama from 1977, but the characters were likeable and it never got boring. 4/5.

Total Retribution (2011) - a girl wakes up on a space station and finds herself in the middle of a battle between some soldiers and a group of zombies. Just to make things worse, the station has a huge cannon that's going to destroy earth unless she can find a way to stop it. This is a minor favorite of mine, very low budget but it's got enough interesting little subplots to keep it entertaining. The CGI varies from passable to awful, and while the two main actresses do a good job the rest of the cast seems like it's probably their first try at acting. Still I always have fun watching it, the filmmakers had very ambitions plans and for 1.5 million, accomplished them to a greater degree than one would have thought possible. 4/5.

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I know that I am stupid but when I look around me I feel a lot better.

Been having computer issues @ home so I haven't been able to post my last couple of viewings. Real quick updates here:

Inside Deep Throat (2005): Intriguing documentary about the infamous 1972 adult film that ever so briefly made porn "chic," made Linda Lovelace a household name, and became a lightning rod for discussions about censorship, obscenity and free speech.

Batman (1989): Tim Burton's Goth-pop rendition of the Dark Knight still holds up pretty well. Jack Nicholson totally steals the movie with his over-the-top portrayal of the Joker.

Unauthorized and Proud Of It: The Story of Rock N Roll Comics (2010)... Interesting documentary about upstart comics publisher Todd Loren, whose Revolutionary Comics line became a magnet for copyright infringement lawsuits from rock stars and First Amendment battles, before he was mysteriously murdered in 1992 (a crime which remains unsolved).Interviewees include rockers like Alice Cooper and Mojo Nixon as well as a host of comics professionals.

Lovelace (2013): Amanda Seyfried portrays "Deep Throat" star Linda Lovelace in this bio-pic which can't decide if it wants to be a candy-coated 70s period piece about a plucky all-American gal's brief foray into porn stardom, or a gritty, tragic drama about domestic violence and spousal abuse. Great performances all around but the film never finds the right "tone."

The Adventures of Buckaroo Banzai Across the 8th Dimension (1984) (Blu-ray)

In a nutshell: Buckaroo Banzai is a multi-talented (surgeon, rock star, science wiz, own comics etc) superstar who found a way through the "8th Dimension" causing old enemies to surface and aliens from outer space to interfere.This movie never appealed to me back in video rental days, plus I never knew what to make of it when I read reviews. I did see bits and pieces over the years, but last night was the first time I watched the whole thing in one sitting. Buckaroo Banzai is certainly special and complex, but I think it will require a few more viewings for me to fully appreciate it. As of now: 4/5

BANSHEE CHAPTER (2013): An investigative journalist looks for a friend who disappeared after taking an experimental CIA hallucinogenic drug from the 1960s. The plot pulls in CIA mind control experiments, "numbers stations," and other bits of paranoid fringe lore, but as a whole the this talky found-footage style movie has only one really good idea: it's fun to see a key character transparently based on gonzo journalist Hunter S. Thompson tromping through an "X-Files" style scenario. 2.5/5.

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"The basic plot is that Donna Speir and Hope Marie Carlton, the two undercover DEA agent Playboy Playmates from the last movie, are still running around in jungle shorts, cowboy boots and spaghetti strap T-shirts, firing their machine guns at drug smugglers, Filipino communist guerrillas, and corrupt federal agents while their two friends, Lisa London and Miss May 1984 Patty Duffek, lounge around the pool a lot and talk on speaker phones that look like fax machines."-Joe Bob on SAVAGE BEACH

Things To Do In Denver When Your Dead(1995)After Tarantino's immense success with Pulp Fiction every body and their brother rushed out to capitalize on that films success. This is one of the first out of the gate boasting a script written in 2 weeks! It has the big ensemble cast and multiple plot lines but overall is a completely terrible film. Usually dependable in these types of films Andy Garcia, Christopher Walken and even Steve Buscemi are rendered boring through the pretentious and lame dialogue. If you're going to try to imitate a guy take more than two weeks to do it.

Dinocroc vs. Supergator (2010) - some genetic engineering outfit creates our two title critters and of course they escape and start chomping on the local residents. It's up to a government agent and a cute wildlife conservation babe to save the day. This was fun enough, plenty of action and some decent characters. The CGI wasn't too bad. And of course the 50' gator somehow manages to hide in about 3' of water before attacking one of its victims 3/5.

Logged

I know that I am stupid but when I look around me I feel a lot better.

"Machete Maidens Unleashed!" - hilarious documentary about the Filipino exploitation film industry of the 1970s. When filmmakers like Roger Corman discovered the islands' natural beauty (and cheap costs), the Philippines became a favorite location for dozens of cheap horror, action, kung fu, and women-in-prison flicks. Lots of vintage clips of boobs, gore and explosions accompany interviews with B movie royalty like Sid Haig, John Landis, Joe Dante, and Corman himself. Entertaining and enlightening, i.e. I HAVE to track down some of the movies talked about in this flick now!!

The Gambler (1974)In a recent interview comedian Artie Lange talked about how this film was the best depiction of gambling addiction he had seen on film having experienced a lifetime addiction himself to the vice. Here James Caan is not in it for the winnings but instead the constant chance of losing it all. Not a typical deadbeat Caan here lives a dual life being a professor while constantly being drawn to an underworld of gambling, loan sharks and violence. Every time there seems to be a chance to get out and redeem himself he sabotages himself going so far as to betray his own family to keep the chase going.

This is an intense and at times nauseating look at addiction every bit as harrowing as much later films like "Requiem for a Dream" and "Shame". The filmmakers give us no relief or easy exit in this film. Even when Caan is on a winning streak the viewer gets no relief because we know that it is not money he is after but instead chaos and uncertainty. With few reviews online and only recently being released on dvd I would go as far to say this is one of the most underrated films of the 1970's.

I HAVE to track down some of the movies talked about in this flick now!!

That's the exact same reaction I had after watching that

As soon as it was over, I started feverishly searching Netflix to see if they had any of the titles shown in the movie ("Savage!", "Cleopatra Wong," "The Big Bird Cage," "The Hot Box," etc., etc.) ... miraculously, "The Big Bird Cage" was actually up there for streaming!! If the clips from that movie shown in "Machete Maidens" are anything to go by, though, that one's gonna have to wait till a night when my wife is working. :